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Preparedness for when

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  • nuatha
    nuatha Posts: 1,932 Forumite
    Softstuff wrote: »
    I don't know about England, but here in Australia yes it is. There was a chap in the same recovery room as me last week had just had it done. Heck, a friend I worked with was out 3 days after a triple bypass.

    That said, it's better to be out of hospital in most cases (they keep sick people there y'know :p), as long as you have the sense to stay still. Ahem :o.

    Its the keeping still and following Doctor's orders that most folk seem to find difficult. Though well done on checking for yellow stickers on your way home from discharge :)
    Hope the recovery is going well and its a real joy to see you posting again.
  • ivyleaf
    ivyleaf Posts: 6,431 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    That's interesting! About the knee replacements.

    My brother lives in Germany atm and has had both his knees replaced. Each time he has been in hospital for a week, I think, and has then been sent to a rehabilitation centre in the middle of nowhere for intensive physio, salt baths etc. for two weeks (or it may have been three.). It was a very inconvenient and lonely place to be.

    He asked why he couldn't just go home and have the physio at the clinic in his local town, and was told that although it was available there, his surgeon had a contract with this particular rehab place so all his patients had to go there :eek:
  • Frugalsod
    Frugalsod Posts: 2,966 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    jk0 wrote: »
    I am shocked American hospitals chuck people out the same day after having a knee replaced. Is it the same here?

    Quite a lot of operations are now done under local anaesthetic and are done in out patients departments. For the hospital it is usually just as effective and far cheaper. Many are performed via keyhole surgery and so the risks are far lower. The opening cuts are either very small or they can enter through another natural opening and cut their way to the point required. Because any such entry points are within they are less susceptible to being accidentally opened by the patient and heal better. For many patients the risks from a general anaesthetic are higher than the actual surgery.
    It's really easy to default to cynicism these days, since you are almost always certain to be right.
  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 22 November 2014 at 1:21PM
    Frugalsod wrote: »
    Quite a lot of operations are now done under local anaesthetic and are done in out patients departments. For the hospital it is usually just as effective and far cheaper. Many are performed via keyhole surgery and so the risks are far lower. The opening cuts are either very small or they can enter through another natural opening and cut their way to the point required. Because any such entry points are within they are less susceptible to being accidentally opened by the patient and heal better. For many patients the risks from a general anaesthetic are higher than the actual surgery.
    :) This is so true.

    SG was a nurse all her career and a theatre sister for the latter decades. She is adamant that you should avoid GAs if at all possible. As well as a small risk of dying from the GA alone, the recovery from the anaethesia is a lot more taxing than most people think.

    I've had a surgery where the access was via an artery and I wasn't under any anesthetic (I had a morphine pump). I was actually propped up on pillows and watching it on the telly in real time. Absolutely fascinating, wouldn't have wanted to miss that unique opportunity.

    Because of my medical history, I worry the hell out of anaethetists. The palaver about being put under sedation for 10 mins to have a wisdom tooth extracted at the dentist was unreal; had to be interviewed a week prior by the ana (am going to stop trying to spell that word, my head hurts). He explained that if he got it wrong, I would go into a coma and it's very difficult to get someone like me out of one.

    Obviously, I can't control what accidents or illnesses which might befall me that would require emergency surgery under GA but I would be extremely reluctant to have any kind of elective surgery involving one.

    Makes me angry that GAs for silliness like vanity procedures are treated as lightly as they are in the public consciousness; you can die of a GA.
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • The batteries finally died, some time last night/early this morning.
  • BigMummaF
    BigMummaF Posts: 4,281 Forumite
    GREENBEE you now own a Sunnan Lamp! For anyone thinking of getting one they are currently on sale at £10 and not the £17.99 they have been at so it might be a bargain if you can get to an Ikea.
    It's the getting to the Blue & Yellow Emporium that is my biggest challenge :( Sometimes I could scream at the need for guides & sherpas & extreme crampons to look for x, y or z but then other times--about 95% if I'm honest :p --I'm thankful to be so far from Temptation :j
    mardatha wrote: »
    I have hundreds of geese going over me flying due south. I wonder if they know something we don't... or if the American thing is affecting them up in Iceland. But hundreds of them.
    The wee beasties are usually a very good indicator of what Mother Nature has in her bag of goodies, are they not :) Often wish I had taken more of an interest when my grandparents were spouting forth with their intimate Devonian & Ampsher folk lore :o but as a scientifically-biased child, it didn't mean very much. I've tried to right my wrongs by enlightening The Offspring to the folly of my (many wayward) ways. Thank Goodness for OS :j

    SorryIM.. I have not read back for several (100s) pages so please forgive my forwardness. Is there no way various guests could bring elements of such a feast with them, given the circumstances? Then you could perhaps cook the bird the day before--makes for easier carving!--& reduce the cooking time by cutting in half from one entrance to the other & laying flat; think the posh term is 'butterflying' but it's the same sort of thing ;)
    Give hubby the veggies & two bowls, so he can sit & prep them for you; there's nothing to hurt his op-spot in there I hope :o
    Could you pre-cook the veg & freeze it, so it's 'bung-it-in-on-the-day'--not forgetting microwaving, steaming & slow-cooker-ing--to make things a tad easier.
    If you are lucky enough to be in a sunshine state, have the meal outside & use paper plates & disposable cutlery--not exactly :money: --to halve the dreaded chores.
    I'll be thinking of you & sending supporting ((Hugs)) on Thursday x
    Full time Carer for Mum; harassed mother of three;
    loving & loved by two 4-legged babies.

  • Cheapskate
    Cheapskate Posts: 1,767 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Also, GA is implicated in the onset or worsening of various dementia-type diseases; I have first hand experience of this with my mum. With hindsight, she was just starting with dementia, but after having some emergency, very serious surgery, that lasted nearly 4 hours, her confusion and memory was horrendous after the op. They give you some time by when you should be back to normal, can be up to six months, but even before then it was obvious that she wasn't the same person as before the op, although without the op she'd have been wearing a wooden overcoat. She cans till live alone, but the help she needs from us is subtly and slowly increasing - worst disease EVER, and the GA has hastened it for her, and us - boo! :(

    Softstuff, the cat can kill and eat whatever she likes! :D

    A xo
    July 2024 GC £0.00/£400
    NSD July 2024 /31
  • BigMummaF
    BigMummaF Posts: 4,281 Forumite
    I feel your frustration Cheap :o Mum has little blips that can leave her with more confusion than she had before, or other days she is quite lucid. I'm her primary carer & spend almost all the day & always every day, desperately biting my tongue as I answer the same questions for the umpeeth time :(
    It's not as bad as it could be thankfully & for that I am most truly grateful, even if it means prolonged absences from my friends here.
    Full time Carer for Mum; harassed mother of three;
    loving & loved by two 4-legged babies.

  • greenbee
    greenbee Posts: 17,788 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Frugalsod wrote: »
    Quite a lot of operations are now done under local anaesthetic and are done in out patients departments. For the hospital it is usually just as effective and far cheaper. Many are performed via keyhole surgery and so the risks are far lower. The opening cuts are either very small or they can enter through another natural opening and cut their way to the point required. Because any such entry points are within they are less susceptible to being accidentally opened by the patient and heal better. For many patients the risks from a general anaesthetic are higher than the actual surgery.

    I have regular GAs, but they are done as day surgery and I'm home pretty much as soon as I can stand up and get dressed. We've discussed having a local (I ask regularly) but the surgeon still isn't keen on the idea. Hopefully we'll reach a point where the procedure is purely a formality and predictable and he'll be brave enough to agree to a local ... but it may take a few goes with no surprises before he does!

    Luckily it's a short procedure, and now they are 12-months plus apart the impact isn't so bad (I also don't have opiates with them, and this definitely helps recovery). I do also have 2 weeks sick leave (one bed rest) and then another 2 weeks of no travel and minimal commitments afterwards - it makes a huge difference. At one point I'd had 5 GAs in about six months and I did find it increasingly difficult to recover. I was also warned that frequent GA can trigger depression.
  • 1Tonsil
    1Tonsil Posts: 262 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 22 November 2014 at 7:11PM
    kittie wrote: »
    has anyone heard from 2tonsils? She suddenly stopped posting in that very bad weather in greece. I am worried about her, hope she is ok

    Hi thanks for your concern. We lost the diesel central heating after the boiler got zapped by lightning in the first storm. Got that repaired and discovered in the second storm that we had a serious leak of rainwater into the house. Our roof is only seven years old, but it was the roof....the rain came in, through the loft floor, into the stone wall, through the living room and out of the front door....luckily missing all furnishings and running over tiles that are easily cleaned.

    It took the roofer three days to solve the leak, but fingers crossed, it is no longer leaking. Now we have it fixed, the weather is beautiful :rotfl:

    Then we got another storm three days later. We woke up thinking someone was throwing bricks at our solar panel, the new one on the roof. It was hailstones! But not your normal run of the mill round hail, but flat, sharp and huge hail stones that made dents in the car! The solar panel remained intact.....


    We now have ten days of good weather before the next set of storms. They are coming this way from Italy,which has been devastated by the flooding and storm damage.

    Speaking of which, there are signs of a very bad stormy spell for the UK towards the end of this month, with severe gales and flooding.

    It was 23 in the shade here today, but the nights are down to 5 degrees.

    We are both well, been busy with the roof mending and flood clearing but very well. Have also been busy visiting a friend in the hospital. Thank you for worrying about me xxxxxx
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